A new year is upon us, so let’s take the opportunity to review some of the most common mistakes project managers make and decide to rise above them in 2013.1. Underestimating your projectWhen you estimate a project or feature, it is very tempting to look at the sunny-case scenario and only provide best case estimates – especially if you work with a new team who is eager to please. It is also a common mistake to miss out important activities such as management overhead, documentation, rework and training. Contingency is another element which is often left out. The end result, unfortunately, is that the project runs out of money before all of the products are delivered. To read more, go to guidelines for estimating project effort.

2. Poor understanding of the detailed requirementsMany project managers have a superficial understanding of the product’s they need to deliver and how these products fit into the client’s business. They leave requirements gathering to the business analysts, which makes them vulnerable and dependent on subject matter experts for decision making and advice. It is true that you don’t have to be the expert in the domain, but you need enough knowledge that you can successfully steer the project and make effective decisions around risks, issues and quality reviews.

3. Focusing on the urgent; not the important! We all know that project managers can be insanely busy. Busy dealing with urgent issues, defects and interpersonal conflict. But the busier you are putting out fires, the less time you will have for the really important activities such as planning, building relationships, understanding your client’s business, motivating your team, reviewing quality etc. The reason you’re likely to spend most of your time on the urgent, is that you have not invested enough time in building up your team to handle the low level detail so that you can be freed up to focus on that which is really important.

4. Failure to properly initiate your projectWe all know that failing to plan is planning to fail, but even so, many project managers jump straight into project execution without knowing what they need to deliver, how they will do it, or how much it is likely to cost. I am not an advocate of a waterfall methodology, but even in agile a firm foundation is necessary before you start to commit resources and funding. You need to fully understand what you are building, why you are doing it, how and when you will do it, and how much it is likely to cost. Find out how to initiate and plan your project here.

5. Not keeping your promisesAs the project manager it is your job to keep track of the projects activities, risks and issues, and to convey the project’s status honestly and accurately to your client. If you over-promise or say you will do things without doing them, your reputation is at stake and your client will stop believing in you. To build strong relationships with your customer and your team, and to deliver your project successfully, you MUST have accurate information at hand before you make a commitment. This is true for even the smallest of promises.

My blogs are generally based on my own hands-on experience as a project and programme manager - but also from the many coaching sessions I have had with project managers over the years. It is becoming increasingly clear to me what works and what doesn't and where most project managers go wrong.

When writing this blog I brainstormed all the PM mistakes I could think of - and the list was quite long! I then grouped them, and finally chose to highlight the ones I felt were most significant and which I could communicate in the clearest way. So it wasn't a big research project ;-)

Warm regards,
Susanne

Reply

Daniel Rosenbaum

28/1/2013 03:35:02

Dear Suzanne, I don't know what is more appreciable, your kindness or your contribution.
Thank you again.

About initiating projects: it's worth noting that in agile, people should defer decisions until the last practical moment, the moment when the cost of indecision becomes too high. Often I see what you observe, assets being built too early and locking teams into poor decisions. An agile project manager should spend early days discovering what their stakeholders value -- building that firm foundation you mentioned. I think describing the underlying principal is important, lest one get the impression that agile methods are lacking in this area.

In project management I never really make "urgent" lists. I 100% agree that focusing on the urgent rather than the important is a huge mistake, one that I've learned the hard way many times. Thanks for the post, so simple, yet so effective (and correct!) - you've given me a bit of inspiration for my own blog!

The common project management mistakes was clearly dictated by you and it was a great help for me to realize the mistakes that I used to make while undergoing a project. This information is a helping hand for all management trainees, as they cannot afford to make such mistakes. Brilliant and thank you.

Thank you for posting. You are right on target. There are elements that you imply in your comments like negotiating to arrive at a valid project and then project plan. But you have covered them in your comments. Great.

The reason you’re likely to spend most of your time on the urgent, is that you have not invested enough time in building up your team to handle the low level detail so that you can be freed up to focus on that which is really important.